A Small Child's Dream
by Queenmunchkin
Summary: Set before Tamuli, Alex finds a lot of things have changed when she returns to Thalesia and Sparhawk gets a shock.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I only own Alexandria, the Sparhawk chars belong to Eddings. Please R&R, thanks. It's set before Tamuli

* * *

Alexandria slowly made her way south through the dark forest, night had fallen a short while ago as she slowly lead her horse through the forest so it would not stumble. She was a short, dark haired woman of 20 although if you saw her you might mistake her for a boy as she wore dark hide trousers, a thick leather jerkin and long dark cloak. A large dagger from one hip and the hilt of a broad sword poked out of the top of her cloak.

She was carrying an important message, she didn't know what was in it she wasn't that stupid to look but she knew she had to get it there fast and safely. She had left her home in Thalesia and was now travelling over the Eosian continent to Elenia and its capital city.

She had so far out ran trolls, out sailed pirates, and out ran brigands all set on stopping her. Whether intentional or not she didn't know and was about to hang around to find out. It was more than her live was worth to let this message fall into the wrong hands, or so she had been told.

Her plans were to drop off the message and make it back to Thalesia before her family found out she was around. She had heard some very disturbing stories about them, ones she was very happy to stay away from. After all she still had enemies she was sure in Cimmura who would happily see her killed, so she had another reason to hurry. For the umpteenth time since she got this job she cursed her boss.

She was making a good living doing what she did for a living even if it was a little dodgy sometimes. However she had been pulled from her last 'job' and given the mission of delivering this message to Platime. She apparently, so Stragen told her, had all the necessary skills needed to carry out this job for him.

She was half worried he was selling her out but then he didn't know about her past no one did and she liked it that way. She had a chance to go back to her family after the troubles died down but she chose not to. She didn't want to make things awkward for them and she was quite happy being a sword for hire and occasional thief.

She was staying away from the main highway hence travelling through a forest in the dark. She hadn't found anywhere decent to camp. Finally she stopped in a small clearing and tied up her horse. She took of her saddle and brushed the dark monster down; he had quite a temper on him when he wanted to. She then curled up in her cloak and fell into a light sleep, staying watchful for any noise out of the ordinary.

OOOOO

She awoke a few hours later just before sun up and ate a light breakfast of bread and cheese. At the pace she was pushing herself and her horse they were both becoming weary and exhausted of travelling. But she thought she was only a few days away from Cimmura now. A city she hadn't visited in many years, one she hadn't planned to visit again. It held too many bad memories and a few good ones.

It had been about 6 years since she had left Cimmura on her own with no one to watch over her she knew it was too dangerous to stay behind in the city waiting for the time when Annias's men finally caught up with her again. She had barely escaped them the first time.

About midday she left the forest and rode Ch'al along one of the less well travelled roads that lead to the capital city. She decided at the next village she passed through she'd stop and get some more supplies to last her the next two days until she reached her destination.

Unfortunately because she was travelling the less well know roads it meant it was nearing dusk when she finally found a village. As she neared it something didn't feel right, it was way too quiet even for a village this small. The few huts had no lights in the windows and nobody seemed to be moving around.

She dismounted her horse and stood watching to see if she could either hear or see anyone. Ch'al flicked his ears and snorted, he didn't much like this either.

She looked around, she had picked a bad time to come across this village, dusk was yet beginning and the light was beginning to fade. She remounted deciding that if she needed to get out of here fast then she wanted to be ready.

She moved Ch'al on slowly through the village while she looked out for trouble. As she began moving past the few huts she saw the tell tale signs of a fight and from the remains of the bodies it was a very one sided one. I looked like some creature had attacked them.

From the fact that the blood hadn't begun congealing she figured that the attack wasn't all that long ago. Deciding she'd manage with what food supplies she had left she kicked Ch'al into a gallop.

Off to the right she save the creature, it was about six foot tall, brownish grey and massively built. It was definitely something from nightmares; it looked up at her as she hurtled past, it's dark eyes following her path but deciding not to follow her it went back to eating one of the villagers.

She shivered as the sun set and they kept the pace up for a fair distance. Once Alex thought she had put enough space between herself and the creature she slowed Ch'al to a walk. She dismounted shortly later and lead Ch'al along the rode giving the poor horse a bit of a rest.

They continued walking through the night and soon were in a small forest again. She planned to stop in a suitable area and get some sleep before continuing on to the city which wasn't far away now.

However that plan was ruined when she was suddenly knocked from her feet and found herself lying on her back in the dirt.

"We'll just take that horse sonny" came a harsh voice from up ahead of her. It took only a moment for her to realise what had happened. She flipped to her feet and drew her sword in one swift moment. She saw two bandit types ahead of her and one behind her.

The one making a grab for Ch'al's reins regretted it a moment later when the horse proceeded to bite his hand then stomp on his foot.

The other too moved towards her "you don't want to die for that horse now do you sonny?" asked the one that had spoken earlier.

She just grinned "do you?" She asked as she swung for the man behind her, her grin getting bigger as she parried his clumsy swipe and her sword bit deep into his side.

She turned back in time to dodge the blow from the talkative one, he was a bit better trained but was no match for her. She soon dispatched him and glared at the other man Ch'al was trying to stamp on, he looked at the bodies of his two companions and ran off into the forest.

She touched Ch'al's shoulder to calm him "it's okay" she said quietly to him. She looked down at the wood and feather shaft that had knocked her off her feet now buried in her taut stomach "shit" she said studying the wound more closely.

She snapped the feathered end off and left the rest in place; it would stem most of the bleeding her main worry was infection setting in. She would now have to skip her sleep and push on to the city.

She kicked herself mentally for not paying more attention as she cleaned and resheathed her blade. She searched the two fallen men in case they had anything useful on them but they were petty criminals so had nothing useful at all, not even some food.

OOOOO

It was getting on for evening when they finally reached the gates of the big city, Alex was weary and sore by the time they did. She passed through the gates and headed straight for the seeder side of the city. She made her way to an inn that was safe for people like her run by one of Platime's people. She Stabled her exhausted horse giving the stable boy a few extra coins to make sure he took good care of him.

She decided to head to Platime's cellar first knowing he'd have a sawbones to patch her up and she wanted to get rid of this message as fast as she could so she could leave first thing in the morning.

She gave the relevant passwords that Stragen had given her and past through and down the stairs. She was led over to the enormous man talking to a couple of well armed men.

She sat and waited for them to finish talking. Without appearing to she studied the two men talking with the chief of thieves in Cimmura. She realised that only was hardly more than a boy but of large build, similar to the young man sitting beside him. From their appearance they looked to be related and both seemed to know how to handle the weapons they were carrying.

As they walked past her she thought that they looked a little familiar but she couldn't place where from.

She stood up and walked over to where Platime lounged on his large chair munching on some chicken. Still standing with her hand pressed against her aching side she held out the message tube "Stragen wanted this delivered to you" she said to him.

He wiped his greasy hands down his trousers before accepting the tube and opening it. He read the contents twice before he looked up at the messenger seeing her holding her side he asked "you hurt?"

"Got caught by bandits and took a hit, you got a sawbones around who is decent and can patch me up before I leave tomorrow, if you want to send a message back you'll have to let me know by then" she told him.

He smiled at her "sure I'll get him to have a look at you, wait over there that's his area" he said pointing off to one better lit corner while he sent a boy to get the doctor.

She went to where he indicated and watched as a small balding man wearing spectacles came in. He walked over to Platime and the two talked, she was too far away to hear what they said. But she saw the doctor look over at her and nod.

He walked over to her "ah my dear would you come this way, take over your cloak and vest and please pull up your shirt so I can see your wound" he told her "please lie on the bed when you are ready" he added.

As she undressed he pulled a curtain across and started bringing out his instruments, she noted that they were all very clean looking. She lay down on the bed and pulled her shirt up past the area with the arrow in it. She could smell drink on the doc but his hand seemed steady as he examined the wound.

"Hmmm I think that I'll give you something to dull the pain before I deal with removing that arrow" he said to her. A short time later he returned with a mug "please drink this all up" he said to her.

She complied and drunk the bitter tasting drink. Soon she felt her eyelids drooping and knew that it wasn't just a pain killer in the drink but a sedative as well. She tried to move but her exhausted and injured body couldn't fight of the drugs and soon all she knew was blackness.

OOOOO

The doc finished treating her as fast as he could before the drugs would wear off. He then signalled the two men playtime had sent over. They carefully wrapped her in blankets and picking up her and her belongings they carried her out to the waiting cart. They had strict orders of where to take her and fearing Platime's threat if they didn't took her straight there. Just to make sure Platime went with them riding along in the front of the cart.

He had to explain to the guards why they were wanting through and after a tense 5 minutes they were admitted to the court yard beyond. They stopped their cart just inside the gates. They had no wish to stay here any longer than they really had too. The two helpers were unloading their charge when she started moving.

OOOOO

Alex had come too just after the cart had stopped for the second time. It took her a few moments to realise she was wrapped up in some rough blankets and lying on the back of a cart. She didn't know where they had taken her but she did know they had drugged her and moved her, she knew it wouldn't be good and that Platime must have betrayed her.

She silently vowed to gut the old git before she was killed. She could only think that he had sold her out to some of Annias' old acquaintances, as far as she knew there was still a price on her head.

She knew she had no weapons on her as she had removed her main ones so the doc could treat her. She had two knives in her boots but she couldn't reach them just yet.

She waited until they had their hands full moving her off the cart before she made her move. She kicked out at the man carrying her feet; she smiled as he yelped in pain as she caught him somewhere tender.

As she fell she managed to unwrap herself from the blankets and she leapt up to attack the other man. She brought the heel of her hand up to break his nose before hitting him in the stomach with the other hand and then bringing her first hand up she hit him with an uppercut to the jaw.

As he fell unconscious to the floor she spun to punch the other guy who was just recovering. She hit him square in the face, the force knocking him off his feet and on to his ass. He groaned before falling backwards.

She shook her hand as she turned to the fat man standing by the front of the cart "you sold me out" she growled as she reached down for one of the knives in her boots.

As she did she realised her surroundings "shit!" she swore looking around to the gates and the two armoured guards there watching with amusement on their faces. She saw the high forbidding walls and the keep, she knew this place was not easy to get out of. She was wondering how the hell she was going to escape when one of the figures who had been watching from the shadows stepped in to the light and asked in a shocked voice "Alexandria?"

"Shit!" she swore again as she slowly turned around seeing who it was her mind and body decided it had had enough shocks for the day and she slowly, gracefully sunk to the ground.

OOOOO


	2. Chapter 2

The taller of the two men who had been at Platime's cellar moved forward with the others "we saw her earlier and she'd been hurt" he said to the tall knight kneeling beside the fallen girl.

Sparhawk looked up at Khalad before he turned his attention back to the girl in front of him. With Khalad's help he gently turned her over, seeing the blood now staining her shirt and the ground he sucked air in through his teeth. He carefully lifted her shirt up to see the wound and the torn stitches. He tenderly touched her forehead and his frown deepened.

"Talen go get Sephrina and tell her I need her in my rooms now" Sparhawk told the boy.

Tale nodded Sephrina was at the palace with Ehlana and Danae. He raced straight there.

Meanwhile Sparhawk gently lifted up the girl and glaring at Platime said "my office now, you can explain her condition there". Then he carried her up to his quarters that he never used here now he slept at the palace.

The other knight including Khalad all looked at each other and wondered who this girl was that Sparhawk would react so.

OOOOO

He entered his quarters and laid her gently on the large, soft bed. He moved over to the water jug that was always there just in case he had been working late and decided to stay here rather than trudge back to the palace.

He wetted a towel and placed it against her forehead when he heard movement behind him. He turned to see Talen and Sephina appear in the room, he guessed they must have cheated to get here so quickly.

"She's been hurt and has a bit of a fever" he told the white haired woman as she moved to the other side of the bed to look down on the woman there.

She looked up at him "leave her with me I'll see she is alright" she told him as she began examining the wound.

Sparhawk silently nodded knowing that she was in the best hands now. Looking at Talen he signalled for the two of them to leave. He took one last look at the pale girl who appeared to be sleeping peacefully before he quietly closed the door behind him.

OOOOO

He opened the door to his office to see all his friends there with a sweating Platime. They were all here for Ehlana's birthday in two days time; they anxiously turned to see how Sparhawk was. They hadn't seen him like that with anyone except his wife and daughter so they were also bursting to know who she was but they held their tongues for the moment.

All except Kalten, he had been pacing the office until Sparhawk returned. He knew just who she was and what she meant to Sparhawk, Kurik and himself. If it was who he thought is was she was very different from the smiling bubbly child he remembered. He had seen the way she had beaten those two men and the look of hatred in her eyes when she looked at Platime. He had since seen the weapons Platime said she carried; from the worn appearance of the sword's handle it would seem she used it a lot.

They had thought she had been killed 6 years ago with her mother until questioning one of Annis' lackeys they had discovered she had escaped and there was a price on her head. They had stopped that but their search for her was unsuccessful.

Seeing Sparhawk enter the room he moved over to him "how is she? Is it really her?" he asked anxiously.

Sparhawk looked his old friend in the eye "Sephrina is with her now" he replied. Both knew she would see the girl healed.

Sparhawk turned to Platime "want to explain what the hell is going on" he growled his hands clenched at his sides.

Platime wiped the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief which he stuffed back in his pocket before he answered the angry man in front of him. "She was sent with a letter from Stragen, she didn't know what was in it. He had discovered that she was very likely to be the girl that you were looking for, she has the heart shaped birthmark on the top of her thigh from his letter, I don't know how he knew" he quickly added seeing the rage on Sparhawk and Kalten's face.

He gulped "she was hurt in a bandit attack she said and I thought the best way to get her here was for the doc to patch her wound and then give her something to sleep I hoped to get her to you before she awoke but that didn't happen" he concluded.

Sparhawk looked at him one last time before going to sit in his chair. He sighed and looked out of the window at the city. He had so many questions he needed to ask her but he would have to wait. He needed to know how she survived the attack, how she came to know Stragen, and right now he just needed to know she was okay.

He looked up as he heard the door open, he was expecting it to be Sephrina and so was surprised to see it was Ehlana, Mirtai, Alean and his daughter Danae.

He stood "what are you doing here?" He asked as he moved over to greet them.

"Talen said that someone was hurt so we came to see who it was" Ehlana explained looking around the room and seeing everyone there. She frowned and looked up into her husband's obviously worried face. "Who was it?" She asked confused.

The knights made space on the chairs in the room for the ladies to sit down. Sparhawk leaned against his desk wondering where to begin.

"She is someone I thought I had lost long ago, I had been told she had been killed just before I came back to Elenia" he looked at Kalten with a sad smile "not your fault my friend" he told him once again.

Kalten hung his head anyway, he had hated causing Sparhawk that much pain and that he couldn't protect the child and her mother in the first place. He had promised Sparhawk he'd watch over them before his exile.

Sparhawk cleared his throat wondering where to begin. "Ehlana do you remember I told you about Mia, my sister" he began. Seeing her nod he continued for those he hadn't told the tale. "She married a prominent Duke but he died in a hunting accident shortly before their daughter was born. Mia inherited everything on behalf of their daughter. She was to be the guardian of his lands and properties until the time Alexandria came of age. It would have been a substantial amount of land she would have got when she turned 18" he paused once again.

Some of the others began putting the name of the girl from the court yard to the name in the tale.

"Shortly before I came back to Elenia after my exile Annias decided he would like that land for himself so sent some of his thugs to kill Mia and Alexandria" he continued his voice becoming more strained "we had thought that both were killed and their land seized but we since discovered that Annias still had a price on her head and thought she must have escaped but we didn't know what happened to her of where she went. I've had Platime and Stragen's people keeping an eye out for her but to tell the truth I was giving up hope".

Ehlana wondered what this had to do with Sephrina being called here then it dawned on her "she's here? Is she okay?" She asked surprise tainting her voice. She knew how much Alexandria's disappearance affected her husband; he was full of guilt that he couldn't save either mother or daughter.

Sparhawk slowly nodded raising his eyes to look into those of his wife the hurt there plain for her to see "yes she is here, she's been hurt but Sephrina is looking at her now" he replied his voice sounding tired.

Ehlana moved around his big wooden desk to embrace her husband hoping to hug his pain away. His daughter followed moments later "does this mean I have a cousin?" She asked innocently.

Sparhawk smiled "yes Danae although she didn't sound to happy to see me so we might have to give her some room first" he told her.

Ehlana frowned "I'll have to get her title reinstated and her lands back, her family home in the city is currently empty I'll get it cleaned up for her and a small retinue of people I trust staffing it. She can move in there once she is strong enough" she said already making plans.

"Ehlana let's see how she is first I don't want to spook her, I don't know what she has been up to these years but she has been working with Stragen so she might not want what we are offering her" he told him trying to slow the plans his wife was thinking up.

Ehlana nodded at the wisdom in his words but that didn't stop her planning a party for the missing Duchess.

OOOOO

Sephrina waited for the door to close before she undressing the pale girl lying before her. She saw the birth mark at the top of her thigh, many terrible scars along with the new wound on her taut stomach. It was red and warm to the touch meaning it was infected.

She started taking out the stitches the bumbling doctor had put in before she cleaned the wound out thoroughly. She restitched it so it would leave as small a scar as possible.

The girl barely stirred during Sephrina's ministrations, she moaned faintly once. She wrapped a clean bandage around her abdomen and pulled the blankets up to cover her.

She sat for a while watching the chest of the girl rise and fall. She said a few prayers to her Goddess to help heal her. She wondered who this girl was and what had happened to her, she had seen scars like that on many of the knights she had healed but rarely on a girl of her age.

Deciding she'd better let Sparhawk know how she was she left the girl sleeping, there wasn't much she could do know until she awoke.

OOOOO

They all looked to the door as it opened once more, Sparhawk moved over to Sephrina "Little Mother how is she?" He asked the little white haired woman.

She smiled at him before replying "she is going to be fine I have cleaned her wound and she has a touch of a fever but she will be okay after some sleep, I'll sit with her but I thought you'd like to know how she was doing".

Sparhawk smiled slightly "thankyou Little Mother, any idea how long she'll sleep for?"

Sephrina shook her head "no but I'll let you know once she is awake" she replied before heading back to the girl.

Sparhawk turned back to his friends and family "I guess there's not much for us to do now other than wait" he went and sat back in his chair.

Ehlana made her excuses promising to come back later, as did Ulath, Bevier and Tynian they had novice practice to run which included Khalad and Talen and Platime had to return to his cellar.

Soon only a gloomy Kalten and Sparhawk were left sitting in the office in silence, both deep in thought.

OOOOO

It was dark when Alex woke up hours later she groggily opened her eyes. Her first thought was panic as she didn't recognise the strange room she was in. The room was lit by a candle beside her bed and the fire in the hearth. Clutching her side she sat up carefully and looked around the simple quarters that still spoke of someone important living in them from the touches here and there, like the bed linen wrapped around her and the rugs lining the floor.

That was when she noticed that she was naked, wondering who had undressed her she pulled the covers up around her body. She had a pounding headache and felt quite hot; her side ached where the arrow had entered. That's when the events of the day came flooding back to her and she realised just where she was, just where she didn't want to be. She'd strangle Platime when she caught up with him and possibly Stragen too if he knew about this.

She lay back down with a groan wondering how she was going to escape from the Pandion Knight's chapter house. Something that would no doubt be near impossible.

She knew it was dark so the knights would likely be sleeping other than the ones on guard duty so if she was going to make a break for it then now was the best time for it. If she could find some rope or enough bed sheets she could climb over the wall. Although in her present state she wasn't sure she could manage it.

The gates would be way too risky though no doubt they'd ordered it so she couldn't leave. It would have to be the high walls that ran around the keep.

She groaned again as she sat up and shuffled towards the edge of the big bed. She sat on the edge holding her side and caught her breath. She really wasn't feeling good but she didn't want to waste a chance to escape.

She wasn't sure where her own clothes had gone too so she raided the wardrobe and chest of drawers for something to wear. She had just pulled on a white shirt that came down past her rear when the door quietly opened.

Standing there startled she looked around the door of the big, wooden wardrobe to see who had just come in.

Even though she knew where she was and who she was likely to see it was still a surprise after all these years to see him standing in front of her "uncle" she said quietly.

Sparhawk looked at the dishevelled raven haired girl poking her head around the door to his wardrobe dressed in one of his shirts. In the years since he had last seen her she had changed a lot. Not surprising he thought she had still been a girl when he had seen her last. His heart stopped as he realised how like his sister, her mother, she looked now that she had flourished into the woman she was.

"I thought you'd be in bed" he said gruffly. In fact he had come to sit with her while she slept. Sephrina was sure she'd sleep for a few hours yet.

"Um "she replied trying to come up with some excuse as to why she wasn't sleeping. Finally she shrugged "I thought I'd sneak out before things got awkward" she admitted.

"Why would they get awkward?" he asked her. It seemed she had indeed grown into a woman and like all women she was confusing him.

As a hot flush swept over her she grabbed the door to keep herself upright. Sparhawk caught the colour draining from her face and rushed over to her scooping her up into his strong arms he carried her back to the bed.

He tucked her up under the sheets noting how her skin felt like it was on fire "I should get Sephrina to come back and look at you" he told her as he sat down on the bed beside her.

Looking into those familiar ice blue eyes he wondered what had happened to her all these years but he left his questions for when she was better.

She lay her head back on the pillow and watched him her head full of questions as well like what she was doing here and why he'd kept looking for her.

He had a new family and he would be better off without her shame added to his family. "Why?" she asked quietly but before he could ask her why what she had fallen asleep once more.

He moved onto the chair by her beside and dampened a cloth with some of the water in the jug on the night stand before gently placing it on her forehead. He then sat back to watch her sleep like he had done when she had been a child and had bad dreams.

She always had been a bit of a strange child it had seemed that she could tell when things would happen before they did. He wasn't sure how or why she could. But he believed her when she told him certain things. Like the time when she was five and had told him to watch out for the white haired old man with the walking stick shaped like a snake.

He hadn't believed the words of the small girl until he met such a man and because he was a bit more watchful he managed to stop the man from killing him. The small girl's words had saved his life then and a few times since.

Soon he had also fallen asleep in his chair dreaming of the laughing child who warmly greeted him when he walked through the door.

OOOOO


End file.
